409MW/900MWh!The World’s Largest Battery Energy Storage Project Is Put Into Operation.

According to China Energy Storage Network reports, utility manufacturer Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL) recently held a grand opening ceremony at the Manatee Energy Storage Center, opening a 409MW/900MWh battery energy storage system (BESS) deployed in conjunction with solar power plants, which is by far the largest battery energy storage system operated in the world and deployed in conjunction with solar power generation facilities.

The Manatee Energy Storage Center in Manatee County, Florida, started construction in February this year and completed its deployment in just 10 months.This 409MW/900MWh battery energy storage system is co-located with the solar farm of Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL)’s existing 74.5MWManatee Solar Center.

The manatee energy storage center that Florida Power and Lighting Company was deploying earlier this year

Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL) is a subsidiary of renewable energy developer NextEra Energy, which installed 132 container battery energy storage systems on 40 acres in Manatee County.

The company said that this battery energy storage project will use sufficient solar energy to charge during the peak period of non-power demand, and then discharge to the local grid during the peak period of power demand.

The solar energy storage project will reduce the operating time of local fossil fuel power plants and will help Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL) successfully implement a decommissioning plan that will enable the company to close two natural gas power plants that opened in the 1970s (total power generation exceeds 1600MWh).

The company has previously said that when it first announced the construction of the project in March 2019, it estimated that it could save customers about $0.1 billion by offsetting fuel costs.

Eric Silagy, President and CEO of Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL), said that the company’s expanded solar power generation facilities and battery energy storage projects are more cost-effective for customers and help reduce long-term costs.

Silagy said: “This is an important year for Florida’s clean energy industry-Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL) officially closed the last coal-fired power plant in the state at the beginning of this year, and now the installed scale of this battery energy storage project we have opened has broken the world record.”

Florida Electric Lighting Company (FPL) predicts that nearly 40% of the state’s electricity will come from zero-emission sources by 2030.The construction of the Manatee energy storage center began in February this year, and the first batch of container battery energy storage systems were installed in August this year. Since then, the battery energy storage project has been accelerated.

In terms of installed capacity, the battery energy storage project is larger than the 400MW Moslantine battery energy storage project recently opened and operated by Vistra Energy in California. However, in terms of energy storage capacity, the Moslantine battery energy storage project is larger in scale, reaching 1600MWh, and its continuous discharge time is 4 hours.

By the end of 2020, about 1/3 of the solar power projects in the U.S. grid interconnection queue plan to deploy energy storage systems, which may be the world’s largest battery energy storage system to date to be deployed with solar power facilities, but will soon be surpassed by other projects. In particular, solar energy + energy storage projects in the United States meet the conditions of the Federal Investment Tax Credit (ITC) incentive, which will reduce the deployment cost of energy storage systems by about 30%.

Renewable energy developer Clearway Company began to build a Daggett solar energy + energy storage project in San Bernardino, California, in October last year. It plans to build 482MW solar power generation facilities and 394MW battery energy storage system in phases.

Meanwhile, another renewable energy developer, Terra-Gen, and its partners are building a Edwards Sanborn solar energy + energy storage project in Kern County, California, which will build 760MW solar power generation facilities and 2,445MWh battery energy storage systems. The solar power generation facility (346MW) and battery energy storage system (1501MWh), which started in the first phase in August this year, will be completed in 2022 and 2023 respectively.

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